


Daughter's Smile

by NEDtheNerd



Category: Samurai Warriors
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Gracia is a bean and I love her, Mentions of War, quick fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 09:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14870867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NEDtheNerd/pseuds/NEDtheNerd
Summary: Mitsuhide is drained for the day's battle, and he's starting to question his purpose. Luckily, he has his brightest light to help him find his way.





	Daughter's Smile

**Author's Note:**

> Fyi, I am brand new to the Samurai Warriors franchise so I am no expert on it. Neither am I a Sengoku Era historian. I just played through Chosokabe's route and fell in love with Gracia and Mitsuhide and wanted to write something with the two of them. So! Here we go!

Mitsuhide was tired. His legs: lead. His arms: sore. His eyes: heavy. It had to be no earlier than two o’clock in the morning. It was this reason exactly that was cause for the silence around the castle. Before he returned home, Mitsuhide had to make a stop  before returning home after today’s battle. Once he and his handful of soldiers returned safely he dismissed them to their own quarters. It was more for himself than them; he found himself being struck by horrible fatigue and the last thing he wanted was for his men to see him so weak. 

These days it felt harder and harder to keep fighting. 

Sure, he was an acclaimed general who served under Oda himself. He helped to claim a number of victories and pursued the life of what he believed to be justified. None of that changed how these were times of complete chaos and destruction. Blood was a consistent tattoo on his skin and death was no longer a stranger. But… That was his purpose. This is what his daily struggle became: justice by bloodshed. As any other warrior, he had gotten used the the putrid fragrance of death. It was ultimately for unification, to end this constant state of war. Some days, though, the constant screams of those young men facing their deaths way too soon was just too much. But this was what he was supposed to do… He had too…

His started pounding against his skull. Feeling the throb he realized it was much too late and he was much too tired to be pondering such things. After all, the last thing he needed was a heavy heart to carry along with the rest of his bruised body. 

His hand caressed the corse wood of his personal quarters’ shoji. It was practically silent, but not in the oppressive sort of way. Unfortunately, what was the soothing silence became a breeding ground for worse thoughts. Soon the echos of war rattled through his head as he entered the hollow room of his home. As he struggled to fight his mind he threw the armor off of his shoulders and released the sword from his hip with a loud clack and it rattled as it hit the hard floor. 

Suddenly, it got cold. A shiver ran down his spine and he shook his head, trying to forget. It was easy to not be bothered like this in the heat of battle. Running amongst the men of the army, slicing down enemies because if you didn’t, you would die. It was kill or be killed. Follow instinct to survive or become plagued by sentimentality and be struck down in a split second. Then lose the war. Then let everything you fought for all of these years fall to nothingness. Either way there was suffering… Suffering. 

_ No…  _ He thought with a shake of his head.  _ You can’t think like this… _

Then a sound caught his attention. In the dark he sensed a presence behind the shoji, and his instincts flooded his soul with a burning fire. He was ready to launch himself at whatever challenge he had. 

_ Kill or be killed. _

Right before he made any rash move, a sweet and honeyed voice spoke low behind the opening door, slicing the curtled adrenaline:

“Otosan!”

Mitsuhide felt thousands of burdens leave him in one fluid movement. His shoulders relaxed and a smile brushed his tired face as he almost breathed the girl’s name: “Gracia.”

In a purple evening kimono and her hair let down, she padded into the room. At the sound of her name, her green eyes glowed in the inky darkness and he could even see the vibrant hue of her hair as she sped through the door and ran into his arms. 

“What are doing up so late at night?” Mitsuhide said low enough, not to wake anyone else up. “You should be in bed.”

“I heard you come home,” she whispered with a bright excitement as she tilted her head up to look into her father’s eyes. “I’ve been waiting up to see you.”

He could not help but give a light chuckle. Mitsuhide loved all of his family deeply, but Gracia was special. Of his three daughters she was the only one to pull such things as this. Of all of his children, no one was ever so willing to stay by his side. She always spoke about fighting alongside him in battle and did so a number of times (despite his constant protest). No matter how much he did not like her throwing herself into the line of battle, her constant smiles and optimism and pure drive never went without benefit for himself. And no matter how old she got, she never abandoned her habit of being with him and greeting him with a pleasant smile, and he was eternally grateful.

“I cannot tell you how nice it is to see you, but it’s way too late for you to be up.” He took a hand and gently caressed the side of her warm face. “How does your mother feel about you being up so late?”

Gracia giggled and put her hands behind her back. “She doesn’t know.”

“All the more reason to get to bed,” he mused. Quickly he held her head between his two palms and he placed a heartfelt peck on her forehead. “Now go, before Mother finds out.”

Gracia then pulled away and scampered out of the room, never losing her smile. “Love you!”

“I love you too, Gracia,” and soon Mitsuhide was alone again, but not without a warm grin himself.

Soon his grin was replaced by grimace as the throbbing pull in his neck returned, causing him to breathe a deep wince of pain. He touched the back of his neck with a heavy rub and lamented over the building soreness in his muscles.

Then, he realized something: the pain was coming back, yes, but it was coming  _ back. _ That meant for a moment he forgot about it. For a moment, the pain in his arms faded, and the weakness in his eyes vanished. It was Gracia who gave him a moment of complete peace. 

He wished she did not have to be raised in this time of utter chaos, destruction and war, but that did not mean he was ungrateful to have her. He hoped for a moment that maybe, once this age was over, they could all live under a just and unified country, that he won’t have to fight anymore and he could watch her grow up and find her own happiness. 

That’s why he could keep fighting.

For the first time in a long time Mitsuhide believed he could get a decent night’s sleep.  With a smile from Gracia he could easily forget whatever was worrying him, at least forget long enough to fall asleep that night. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my first Samurai Warriors fic! As I said before, I love Mitsuhide and Gracia alike. What I love about Samurai Warriors 4 so far is the family relationships and how they are portrayed. Like how Mitsuhide just talks about his wife makes me get all fangirly and just how he loves Gracia make me scream! It just adds something special, you know? So I wanted to write a little something quick about Mitsuhide and Gracia. Anyway, thanks for stopping by! :)


End file.
